<p>I'm a prospective engineering major and want to know how the schools compare. </p>
<p>Now, I'm aware that certain programs may be better respected or higher ranked, but what I'm looking for is characteristics of both schools in all areas (social, undergrad, the college town, as well as academics), as I don't want to figure which to apply to based soley on rankings (and I'm not applying to both because I've already got what I think is a pretty full list).</p>
<p>Social - UCLA
Undergrad Programs - Berkeley
Colege Town - DEFINITELY UCLA
Academics - Berkeley</p>
<p>Social:UCB
Undergrad Programs -UBC
Colege Town:SAN FRANCISCO(near by)
Academics:UCB</p>
<p>Los Angeles pwnz Frisco</p>
<p>Never!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>social: UCLA for sure
undergrad: about the same
college town: UCLA, though some people prefer berkeley
academics: slight edge to berkeley</p>
<p>but in your case,
engineering reputation: berkeley </p>
<p>
[quote]
Colege Town:SAN FRANCISCO(near by)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>thats not a fair comparison. we're talking college town, westwood vs. berkeley. if you're bringing up san francisco, then UCLA kids will bring up the rest of los angeles, which has beaches, hollywood, etc.</p>
<p>I can't wait for eudeans response to this.</p>
<p>Could more of the responses add reasoning to their comparison decisions? Thanks.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm a prospective engineering major and want to know how the schools compare.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Berkeley. Don't give it a second thought.</p>
<p>Berkeley if you're a prestige whore and don't care about anything else.</p>
<p>"Berkeley if you're a prestige whore and don't care about anything else."</p>
<p>If defense of my own, do you think prestige arises out of thin air? Surely, prestige stems from factors like quality of faculty, class size, and grad school placement. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>A better engineering school would be good but I'm willing to sarcrifice it for other things (lifestyle would be more important when comlparing UCLA to UCB, because I know I can get a good education at both).</p>
<p>I chose Berkeley over Cornell for engineering, if that matters. I don't think I'm a prestige whore.</p>
<p>You want great education.</p>
<p>Berkeley for engineering.</p>
<p>Muraski,</p>
<p>Some people prefer the social life of UCB to UCLA and vice versa. I don't think you will be able to get a definitive answer here; you should just check them both out :)</p>
<p>And then after you do that, you should decide upon Cal :D</p>
<p>I was just trying to rile some people up. </p>
<p>What I'm saying is, there isn't 1 single factor that should be the basis of a decision between the two, of course. But if it's prestige you seek, by all means, Berkeley. And I am certainly not bashing Cal because I plan on going there for grad school, but for undergrad, it wasn't the right fit. </p>
<p>And it was sarcasm. I chose UCLA over Cornell too, as well as Berkeley, among others, and I constantly got "jeez, why didn't you go to [insert school here]?!?" So if you don't want that to happen to you, go to the most prestigious school you can. And in this case, for engineering, it'd be Berkeley.</p>
<p>Murasaki:</p>
<p>You're asking for subjective opinions when it comes to 'social life', 'college town', etc. so you'll likely find (as evidenced here) that the people who go to UCB prefer it up there and the people who go to UCLA prefer it down there. I think you should consider making a road trip since you'll need to visit both areas and get a feel if you're serious about those locations. I've lived in both areas and much prefer southern California, especially San Diego, but there are plenty of people who prefer it in the San Francisco bay area.</p>
<p>If you like the beach and want to be able to go into the ocean without a wetsuit, and for better weather, or if you like toolin' around in the desert, go to UCLA. If you like big trees and lots of forest and mountains (although the LA area has some of this too), and still better weather than most of the country, go to UCB.</p>
<p>San Francisco and Los Angeles are quite different cities so you should consider that in your selection if it's important to you. The areas immediately surrounding the two campuses 'Westwood/Beverly Hills/Santa Monica' vs 'Berkeley/Oakland' are quite different as well so you'll need to decide which one you like better. </p>
<p>I doubt that an undergrad engineering education is radically different at either campus when it comes down to it - they're both highly respected schools. </p>
<p>Also, you may want to reconsider applying to both in case you don't make it into one of them.</p>
<p>IMO, both LA and SF suck. </p>
<p>Just kidding....although I really don't like either.</p>
<p>jhype:</p>
<p>You're not alone - a lot of people choose UCLA (and other UCs) over UCB (and other high-end schools) and vice-versa. People need to realize the decision of UCB over UCLA is not a 'gimme' at all.</p>
<p>social - UCLA is probably a little better
undergrad - if you are talking about undergrad engineering Berkeley is better
the college town - in my opinion Berkeley is more lively and social, as compared to Westwood, which is surrounded by million dollar mansions. Although, Westwood does look cleaner and safer.</p>
<p>Anyway, go visit the two and see which one you like. Some people like one and some like the other. For engineering Berkeley is very good though.</p>